The Media Bias Chart
Where America’s biggest news outlets sit: left to right by political lean, bottom to top by reliability. Tap any outlet to see its name.
Show the data as a table
| Outlet | Lean | Reliability (1–5) |
|---|---|---|
| Associated Press | Center | 4.7 |
| Reuters | Center | 4.8 |
| BBC News | Center | 4.5 |
| NPR | Leans left | 4.4 |
| PBS NewsHour | Leans left | 4.5 |
| The Wall Street Journal (news) | Center | 4.5 |
| The New York Times | Leans left | 4.2 |
| The Washington Post | Leans left | 4.1 |
| Axios | Center | 4.2 |
| The Hill | Center | 3.9 |
| Bloomberg | Center | 4.4 |
| USA Today | Leans left | 4.0 |
| CNN | Left | 3.6 |
| MSNBC | Left | 3.2 |
| Vox | Left | 3.6 |
| The Atlantic | Left | 3.9 |
| HuffPost | Left | 3.2 |
| Fox News | Right | 3.1 |
| New York Post | Right | 3.2 |
| Washington Examiner | Right | 3.3 |
| The Dispatch | Leans right | 4.0 |
| Reason | Leans right | 3.9 |
| National Review | Right | 3.6 |
| Newsmax | Right | 2.6 |
| Breitbart | Right | 2.4 |
| The Daily Wire | Right | 2.9 |
| Mother Jones | Left | 3.1 |
| The Federalist | Right | 2.6 |
| Politico | Leans left | 4.1 |
| The Economist | Center | 4.4 |
How to read the chart
Left to right shows political lean, from outlets whose coverage consistently favors the left to those that consistently favor the right. Bottom to top shows reliability: outlets higher up report verifiable facts more consistently, separate news from opinion and correct their mistakes. Shapes and labels carry the meaning, so the chart works without color.
How each outlet is rated
- Sample: a fixed set of recent news articles and segments per outlet, not opinion pieces.
- Lean: word choice, story selection and which sources get quoted, scored against a published checklist.
- Reliability: factual claims checked against primary sources; corrections policy and track record.
- Review: ratings are re-checked at least once a year and dated.
Preview: the positions currently shown are provisional while each outlet is rated with this method. Final ratings will be dated and linked to their evidence.